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AUGUST 2018 | 91 Trades Training Facility Renewal – Coast Mountain College RENDERING COURTESY STANTEC Trades Training Facility Renewal – Coast Mountain College by MARTHA UNIACKE BREEN O ver the next decade, more than one million new job openings are predicted to come online in the province of B.C., and eight out of 10 of those openings will require post- secondary education, most of it in the professional, management, and skilled trades sectors. That burgeoning demand puts institutions like Coast Mountain College (the new name for Northwest Community College, located in Terrace) squarely in the crosshairs of not only the provincial government, but of stu- dents seeking training in carpentry, welding, automotive service, elec- trical, and heavy machinery – all of which Coast Mountain specializes in. According to Sarah Zimmerman, Coast Mountain College communications and public relations director, the college was overdue for an overhaul, particu- larly its all-important Trades Centre. "The trades building renovation has been a key priority for several years, as the infrastructure at our Terrace campus has reached more than 40 years," Zimmerman explains. "Some of the work involved included seismic upgrades to increase the safety of the building, as coastal B.C. is in an earth- quake zone. But also, we wanted to ensure that the shops that we offer our trades program training in, reflected the reality students will encounter when they are in the workplace." The $18-million upgrade, she says, included modernizing the shops, creat- ing renewed classroom spaces adjacent to shops, and new study areas (called huddle spaces) where students can gather to study, in addition to a coffee shop and gathering space at the front of the new building entrance, marked by a wall of windows and cedar wood beams and finishes. Mechanical, power-source and plumbing upgrades, and measures to increase energy effi- ciencies were also part of the mandate. The ambitious renovation was com- plicated by the fact that the facility remained open during the entirety of the process. "Priority in the renova- tion was being able to continue offering courses while renovating the trades facility. We took a phased approach to this, to ensure that all classes could continue running while each shop was taken out of commission, one by one. We also found an alternative off-site location to teach our electrical trades students, to free up flex space on the campus itself – done in partnership with the local school district." Stantec's Anthea Ho, one of the lead architects on the project, says the concrete block walls and minimal windows of the existing space made it difficult to understand what was going on in each of the spaces, and there was no opportunity for collaboration. "Now, new glazed walls and glazed garage doors maximize visual connectivity throughout the building," explains Ho. "From the main corridor, you can see into each of the classrooms and even beyond, into the shop spaces. We also added a window between the auto- motive bay and the new student hub space, so students that are eating their lunch in the hub can see their peers fix- ing vehicles. We've broken down the walls at strategic locations so there is a sense of connectivity between the programs and a greater sense of orien- tation within the building." In some instances, the building itself becomes a teaching tool. The design will expose certain building tectonics, so it can act as a teaching tool for the trades students and instructors to use. Some of the structural connections are exposed, as well as the mechani- cal room that is exposed through the clever use of glazing. "The building uses mass timber as the main structural component: cross- laminated timber [CLT] panels and glulam columns. We wanted to use wood as the main structural system in the new addition, to both highlight local wood products and bring warmth to the space. "We used Douglas fir CLT shear walls at each of the student huddle spaces to define and highlight the col- laboration zones in the building," she continues. "The new student hub space has a CLT roof, and a system was developed where hidden service runs were routered into the panels to hide services such as sprinkler runs and electrical lines to keep a clean ceil- ing. We also worked with students and alumni from the art school to develop some of the art that will go into the building, such as the frit pattern design on the glazing." One of the building's most magnifi- cent assets is its soaring timber roof. "The existing building had a magnifi- cent heavy timber roof system that we wanted to preserve as part of the renovation, and also express similar heavy timber construction in the build- ing addition. Some of the challenges of the seismic upgrade were to preserve the esthetics of the roof system, while upgrading the seismic capacity of the roof diaphragm and the unreinforced concrete block walls," says Brian Lange, a Stantec engineer and struc- tural consultant on the project. LOCATION 5331 McConnell Avenue, Terrace, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER Coast Mountain College ARCHITECT/ STRUCTURAL/MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Stantec GENERAL CONTRACTOR IDL Projects Inc. TOTAL SIZE 77,400 square feet TOTAL COST $18 million Stantec's Keith Bate, mechanical consultant on the project, expands on how the practical needs of the mechanicals and the esthetics worked together. "The goal was cleaner-look- ing spaces for the classrooms, and an esthetic as well as practical decision to expose the wood roof and keep it intact. So large air ducts would have been impractical; we did computer- ized air flow analysis to discover ways to minimize the need for large ducting and still have excellent air flow, using smaller ducts concealed inside the dry- wall perimeter walls." For Thys Fourie, Stantec's electri- cal consultant on the project, lighting, especially the area of the high timber roof, required special consideration. "The classrooms have a very open design, and the lighting is integral to it; down the main corridor, all the ceil- ings are very high, so lighting becomes not only important but an esthetic con- sideration, because you don't want to expose all the wiring. The solution was a combination of recessed fixtures with wiring concealed in the adjacent walls, and suspended lighting." Fourie adds that one of the ways of reducing energy needs was to install automatic motion sensors in the trades areas, which activate the lighting to full when people enter the room, and reduce it to 30 percent when they leave. "Because of the nature of the shop areas, you can't completely extin- guish the lights for safety reasons; but 30 percent provides enough illumina- tion for safety without unnecessarily drawing excessive power." With its newly finished trades centre getting ready to welcome stu- dents this fall, the college is equipped to prepare students for the changing demands of their future occupations. "This much-needed upgrade means that students are learning in a modern, high-tech environment that will better prepare them as they enter the appren- ticeship phases of their studies," says Zimmerman. "The facility reflects the modern class and shop environment, and gives students the training they need in a modernized space." A 1:24 PM 2:00 PM 2:31 PM 2:07 PM

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